Are people insular in rural villages in the north?

[bellaiceberg]

Im already in the north but looking to move. I like peace and quiet, wfh and am happy renting.

I have been looking at a few places, villages surrounding carries look quite beautiful and are very affordable (my rent limit is around £700pcm) for the north.

I did a bit of research on MN (possibly not a good idea haha!) and many people said villages around carlisle and in the north are insular.

God help me i don't want that. I can take eccentric, weird, arty, whatever but not progressively... backward.

Anyone have experience?
Am with long term DP and we can both work anywhere in the uk but would prefer to remain within a decent train distance to north west due to family/friends. We re currently in Garstang.

Apologies, CARLISLE not carries. FFS keyboard!

No more so than Garstang! Penrith has a very similar vibe

haha! that made me chuckle. Garstang is just excessively bland. Obstinately overpriced too, the rental sector is taking the proverbial and im not in love with it enough to care.

If this isn't a joke it is offensive in more or less every way.

Most villages will have some insular people - even cities have them. My village is more Midlands than North, there are some insular people who keep to their own friends, but plenty of lovely people as well. It's really worth researching the individual places.

ok im confused, apologies if so :(
I am only talking about what I have read, this isn't my take on things particularly. I have come across this a lot on MN though and it has made me a little reticent.

Seriously, your questions strikes me of someone who is insular. Yes, all people in the rural North are insular. They may improve as electricity is introduced.
How do you find Garstang? I’m sure there are a range of people there. I wonder if Carlisle will be full of progressively backward or could it be like the rest of the UK, with a mixture of people 🧐

I guess sit also depends upon what we mean by insular.
For some it is reserved, for others it might be prejudiced, I would like to avoid that. No offence intended

I think it depends on both the village and also what you see as insular.

Some of the villages round Carlisle are very much dormitories of Carlisle and others are lovely little villages in their own right.

Personally I would have very little truck with anyone who would lazily describes a whole village of people 'backward' and think it says more about them than the area. Villages are small places so all the personalities are concentrated, just like in more urban areas some people may have certain views and others won't share them and in a village that's amplified.

The trick to successful village life is having a live and let live, let's all crack on together attitude. If you don't then you are probably best off somewhere a bit bigger.

@Londoncatshed

Seriously, your questions strikes me of someone who is insular. Yes, all people in the rural North are insular. They may improve as electricity is introduced. How do you find Garstang? I’m sure there are a range of people there. I wonder if Carlisle will be full of progressively backward or could it be like the rest of the UK, with a mixture of people 🧐

god no this is not what I meant at all!

Is this another one of those, I am so in inclusive and accepting as long as its 'cool and arty'?

@bellaiceberg

I guess sit also depends upon what we mean by insular. For some it is reserved, for others it might be prejudiced, I would like to avoid that. No offence intended

And there's no prejudice in that statement?

Garstang is expensive, as is the Ribble Valley.
I live in a village and I’ve never heard any described as ‘insular’.

Anyone familiar with villages around Eden? Say Wetheral, Warwick on Eden? It looks lovely.

no, no prejudice intended, I was quoting what I have read here and don't fancy the idea of closed minds. I am just fairly ordinary and am happy to fit in generally. I meant no offence, I should imagine ive tried to make that clear. Apologies for clumsy wording.

I don't know Warwick on Eden well but I do know Wetheral and I can't imagine it's somewhere with a wide range of rental properties, it's very much a place where homeownership is the norm.

Why Carlisle? It's a very sought after area, there would be far more choice in e.g. the Eden Valley, outskirts of Kendal, Milnthorpe and Ulverston.

The Carlisle area is my least favourite part of Cumbria.

@bellaiceberg

Anyone familiar with villages around Eden? Say Wetheral, Warwick on Eden? It looks lovely.

I also wouldn't describe those two places as being 'around Eden'

What most people would refer to as The Eden Valley is the area around Penrith and Appleby rather than Carlisle.

Fwiw I have family in Silloth and it seems pretty nice. Little buzz in summer, bit bleak in winter. Rural poverty but also lots of just normal hard working people. Stunning views. Cheap houses. See also: Allonby and Aspatria. Terrace 2 or 3 bed with yard recently renovated you’re looking at about £500-600 a month

Thanks for the info.
Again I am sorry and did get my arse handed to me on a plate, so be it

You can’t make sweeping generalisations about huge areas, or indeed half of England. Just visit the areas you can afford and spend some time there; visit coffee shops, bars, restaurants, schools etc and see if they appeal. One person’s perfect village is someone else’s hell.

People in the North are no more likely to be of closed minds than those in the South. I realise you’ve apologised, but honestly you sound very closed about the North and that somehow that Northerners are somewhat backwards. If that’s what you’ve read on MN, maybe take it with a pinch of salt!

Can I give you folks a link to a Rightmove property? it is curiously inexpensive but so cute. Way below budget so am slightly suspicious - ought I to be?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/115208066#/?channel=RES_LET

@Londoncatshed

You can’t make sweeping generalisations about huge areas, or indeed half of England. Just visit the areas you can afford and spend some time there; visit coffee shops, bars, restaurants, schools etc and see if they appeal. One person’s perfect village is someone else’s hell.

People in the North are no more likely to be of closed minds than those in the South. I realise you’ve apologised, but honestly you sound very closed about the North and that somehow that Northerners are somewhat backwards. If that’s what you’ve read on MN, maybe take it with a pinch of salt!

I was born here and still live here, and the town I was born is is very insular - eating pesto with meals if suspicious and you are a sissy if you use a hood or umbrella. Im not particularly sorry to have moved on from that, I cant lie, It made me very uncomfortable and had a lot of issues.

Since my family left there when I was 15 I have kind of been wary of walking back into that. Im sure someone on MN will appreciate my honesty. I have never lived in the south.

I know the Eden valley well. Each village in my opinion has a very individual vibe. People I know who moved there rented in a few villages till they found a village that suited them. Some villages do have a high percentage of residents who have lived there all their lives so it is naturally hard to integrate. Others have more “incomers” so are perceived to be easier to integrate into. I think the Eden valley is a beautiful relatively unknown gem in Cumbria.

It looks like an annexe of a larger property so sharing grounds etc?

I also meant progressively backwards, not backward.
Which means homophobic, racist, sexist, etc.
Im not sure how this offends anyone.
Who the fuck wants to live somewhere like that?